If you want to talk about the recent "traffic password", it is obviously the ongoing 2022 Qatar World Cup. Topics such as #Qatar Little Prince# and #Qatar became the first host of the opening game to lose their host# are among the hot search lists on social platforms. In the "World Cup" special page of Douyin , there are not only live events and exciting replays, but also provide many users who are engaged in different professions in Qatar, sharing content related to the World Cup from other perspectives.
In fact, it is not difficult to find that Kuaishou has previously broadcasted popular sports events such as the Tokyo Olympics, Beijing Winter Olympics , and short video platforms have gradually participated in topics related to sports events, and more and more discussions and content production have also begun to shift to such platforms. And thanks to the development of Internet-related technologies, the discussion on large-scale sports events is now much more enthusiastic than ten years ago. However, compared with the current popular searches and hot topics on social media and short video platforms, the "fans' station" in the early years seemed much deserted.
eclipsed tiger pud , post bars
Early years ago, such as the 2010 South Africa World Cup, the 2014 Brazil World Cup, and even the earlier 2006 German World Cup, fans may gather more in Baidu Tieba Sports Bar , Li Yi Bar and other sections to discuss related events. Many user groups will spontaneously organize and transfer schedules and event-related content, including very high-quality in-depth posts. In addition, there are forums such as Hupu, Live Bar , as well as the sports APP Dongqiudi founded in 2012, which are also the first choice for many fans when communicating online.
However, with the rise of social media such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu, and the popularity of short video platforms, these forums or vertical platforms seem to be no longer favored by users. Since it is basically difficult to develop in the direction of "specialization" and has always maintained the sustainability of high-quality content, they are ultimately facing problems such as large-scale user loss.
According to relevant data released by third parties, the monthly active users of Tieba in 2015 had exceeded 300 million, but by 2021, its monthly active users were only 37.43 million. But you should know that these six years are also a period of rapid increase in the number of netizens in my country. Coincidentally, the monthly active users of Emperor Dongqiu also dropped to 3.15 million in October 2022 compared with more than 4 million during the last World Cup. In addition, Hupu, which has twice been stranded on the listing plan, is limited by many problems after the difficulty of monetization and the growing community. It is now a lot less than the MAU officially disclosed in 2017, and as of October 2020, there is only 5.72 million left.
But such data does not only mean that "vertical communities are difficult to survive", but at a time when information acquisition channels and interaction methods are more diverse, user needs are also changing. Not everyone is still in place, and maintaining the " one acre and three-point land " in the network with the help of simple graphics, text, replies, reprints and other functions. Therefore, problems such as declining content quality, loss of users, and difficulty in monetization are just superficial. With the change of the market environment, at a time when more fragmented information is flooded, topics and hot topics have also become the "factors" of the production of content on many platforms.
Ordinary users VS senior fans, there are two different needs.
However, when many fans gathered on platforms such as Douyin and Migu Video to watch the game, and discussed the "hot" on social media such as Moments and Weibo, there is also a view that "every World Cup is a feast for pseudo-fans", and the topic of #How do pseudo-fans watch the game# is also widely discussed.
In fact, whether it is football, basketball, movies, or music, since there are senior enthusiasts, there will inevitably be users who "join the fun and listen to the sound". For veteran fans, this year may mean "the last World Cup of the two major football kings", as well as many stars and various professional tactics. For ordinary users, it is more like the "hot spot" of this period, and the topics they pay attention to are more entertainment-oriented, and the discussion of the event itself has also expanded beyond the arena.
But exists, which means that is reasonable. The needs of ordinary users and senior fans are completely different, so it is not surprising that there are differences in opinions. Perhaps for senior fans, they hope to see more of the event commentary, analysis and prediction full of "dry information", but for ordinary users, why not concentrate a 90-minute game into the essence of moments and second-creation videos?
So isn’t it natural for a forum or vertical platform to be “neglected” in the face of short video platforms and social platforms with a wider range of dissemination and a larger user base? Although many senior fans may still miss the prosperity of the previous forum, perhaps in a sense, the dissemination of short videos and social media is more conducive to football and attract more ordinary users.
Purchase the copyright of the event at a high price. Short video platforms do not lose
. Faced with the hot topic of the "World Cup", major platforms that have always "see traffic as life" naturally cannot be without action. The first to be affected are Douyin and Migu Video, which bought the copyright of the event from CCTV. In addition, there are many Internet companies that play "edge ball", such as Meituan, which launched the "whether to watch the game, please click on the Meituan takeaway" series of advertisements, as well as iQiyi , Tencent video, Taobao, etc. that set up the "World Cup" zone on their respective platforms. BOSS Direct Pin, Liepin, 58.com, etc. frequently appear in the user's vision in the form of sponsorship.
However, among these participants, Douyin's actions are particularly proactive. Previously, Douyin has accumulated a lot of accumulation in major international sports events. Not only has it cooperated with 2020 European Cup and 2021 America's Cup , but it also "winds" the copyrights of the five major European leagues including Premier League , La Liga , Ligue 1 , Bundesliga and Serie A . During this World Cup, Douyin also had many layouts in the content level, including inviting athletes to settle in, UGCh content dissemination, etc. For example, the recent entry of the "Qatar Little Prince" has also brought a lot of popularity to it. It is worth mentioning that this time, Douyin also launched "Watch and chat" and "accessible subtitles live broadcast room".
Of course, although Douyin has put forward the slogan of "Watch the World Cup live broadcast for free", this obviously does not mean that there is no possibility of profit. Currently, at the bottom of the "World Cup" special page of Douyin, the "Tik Tok Fun Festival" event has been set up. Users can directly purchase jerseys, TVs, beer, authentic authorized peripherals and other products. The "Eating, Drinking, Playing and Entertainment on Douyin" activity, which was carried out simultaneously, encourages users to order takeout on Douyin and learn about nearby stores that play the World Cup. It is not difficult to find that Douyin's move has been directly "connected" with e-commerce and local life businesses, fully bringing the value of traffic to the extreme.
Since this year, Douyin has obviously accelerated the combination of related content with sports and fitness, and these types of content are also expected to become "longboards", that is, the content differences that are different from similar platforms. Therefore, it is not difficult to speculate that Kuaishou may have the same intention to spend huge sums of money to obtain the copyright of "Shuang Ao". With the entry of hot figures such as the "Little Prince of Qatar", Douyin's intention has gradually emerged, that is, to use the popularity of the World Cup to introduce players and celebrities, and let the popularity take root, ferment and spread on the platform.
At the same time, Weibo has recently reached a 5G+ all-sports strategy with Migu. During this World Cup, Weibo will assist Migu to produce more hot content and help watch and discuss, so as to amplify Migu's content advantages and brand influence as a rights-holding broadcaster.
It is not difficult to find that Migu, without social functions, still needs to use Weibo to stimulate user participation, and Weibo without event copyrights naturally hopes to use this to attract more users' attention and enhance user stickiness. Therefore, the cooperation between the two parties will also be a win-win situation.
At least at present, almost no platform is willing to miss the hot spot of the World Cup, but unfortunately, forums or vertical websites that originally attracted users because of football-related content are now no longer qualified to participate.
[The picture in this article is from the Internet]
